MIAMI, Fla. – The nationally ranked No. 2 Nova Southeastern University rowing team continued its dominance this weekend by taking two-of-two races from Barry University in Miami, Fla.
“The team put together two good races, but we have some more physical work to do and technical refinements," said Head Coach John Gartin. "The women did a great job facing some uncontrollables this week and not letting that disrupt their training and speed. Several women stepped up today and made it really clear that we have a great team with solid depth.”
The Sharks' Varsity 8 and Varsity 4 boats each competed this weekend against Barry. Both crews earned first place finishes to add to NSU’s 14 victories this spring season.
The NSU Varsity 8 of coxswain Elizabeth Tortorici (Winter Park, Fla.), Alyssa O'Donnell (Ballston Spa, N.Y.),Lauren Boudreau (Waterford, N.Y.), Catherine Plesko (Brandon, Fla.), Abigail Schiavo (Northfield, N.J.), Taylor Van Horn (Cape Coral, Fla.), Claire Kurlychek (Land O' Lakes, Fla.), Jessica Sutter (Miami Beach, Fla), and Mallorie Reinecke (Buffalo, N.Y.) started the day off for the Sharks with a 7:06.3 finishing time, 4.8 seconds ahead of the Barry crew. This is the third best finishing time of the season for the back-to-back SSC Boat of the Week recipients.
Gartin states, “the eight had a good race right off the start. The eights paced each other for the first 400m and we started to pull away several seats with our first move. The sprint was solid with good smooth strokes and positive velocity.”
Finishing up the Dual for the Sharks was the Varsity 4 of Courtney Berger (Fr., Stratford, N.J.), Heather Higbee (So., Ocean View, N.J.), Christie McElhenny (Jr., Egg Harbor Township, N.J.), Emma Jordan (Jr., Sebastian, Fla.) and Kayla Wieseckel (Jr., Roswell, Ga.) in another close race pulling across the line 3.4 seconds ahead of the Barry Varsity 4 crew. The Sharks' finishing time of 8:18.9 was enough to capture the 14th total victory for the team this spring season.
”I was really proud of the four," Gartin said. "They got down early, at about the 250m we were down at least three seats, but came back at the 750m to get back ahead and then started to pull away in the last 400m."
NSU looks to continue their dominance on the water next weekend, April 8-9, in Sarasota, Fla. for the FIRA Championships. “Our next race is going to be our next step in seeing the speed of the conference,” says Gartin.
